Friday, August 31, 2007

Microsoft Settles a Dispute Over a Feature in Its Browser - New York Times

Read the full article for more context

Microsoft said Thursday that it had settled an eight-year patent dispute that resulted in a $521 million jury verdict against it. Terms of the accord were not disclosed.

The dispute centered on a feature within Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser that allows embedded links. The patent is owned by the University of California and licensed to Eolas Technologies, a closely held company formed by a university researcher, Michael Doyle.

What's likely to happen next: Mozilla.org, Apple (re Safari), and Opera are probably going to get some phone calls from lawyers...